BEACH AT PORT MELBOURNE

Port Melbourne Beach begins at the southeast end of Station Pier, running parallel to Beach St, and joins South Melbourne Beach further along, and eventually down to St Kilda Beach. The high rise apartment blocks and palm trees along Beach St give the locale a cosmopolitan feel, but looking out towards the sea, one can imagine oneself in quite a remote area. Nevertheless, it is only about 3 km south of the CBD...

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,

SUMMER

This post is part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

PARKLANDS BIRDS

At the Darebin Parklands one may see quite a few species of fauna, many of them birds. Here are some I captured recently.

This post is part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme,
and also part of the Our Beautiful World meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

Pacific Black Duck - Anas superciliosa

 Red-rumped Parrot - Psephotus haematonotus

Laughing kookaburra - Dacelo novaeguineae

Laughing kookaburra - Dacelo novaeguineae

Australian white ibis - Threskiornis moluccus

Willy wagtail - Rhipidura leucophrys

Rainbow lorikeet - Trichoglossus moluccanus

YARRA BEND SERENITY

View of the Yarra River in the Yarra Bend Park, about 4 km from the City Centre.

This post is part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Weekend Reflections meme,
and also part of the Scenic Weekends meme.

SUNSET SKY

This view is from one of the upstairs windows of our house. The position of the sun is telling me that the days are shortening and that the sun has started to appear to move more and more Northward. Before not too long Summer will be over!

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 179 - ILLAWARRA FLAME TREE

Brachychiton acerifolius, commonly known as the Illawarra Flame Tree, is a large tree of the family Malvaceae native to subtropical regions on the east coast of Australia. It is famous for the bright red bell-shaped flowers that often cover the whole tree when it is leafless. Along with other members of the genus Brachychiton, it is commonly referred to as a Kurrajong (see another species here).

Brachychiton acerifolius was first described in 1855 by W. Macarthur and C. Moore. It is sometimes spelled as Brachychiton acerifolium, under the assumption that the genus name Brachychiton is (Greek) neuter. In fact, Brachychiton is masculine, and hence the correct species epithet is acerifolius. The name Brachychiton is derived from the Greek brachys, meaning short, and chiton, a type of tunic, as a reference to the coating on the seed. The specific epithet acerifolius suggests the appearence of the foliage is similar to that of the genus Acer, the maples.

This tree is tolerant of temperate climates and is now cultivated world-over for its beauty. However, the maximum height of 40 metres is reached only in the original, warmer, habitat. It usually grows to be about 20 metres. Similarly to its Kurrajong relatives the leaves are variable, with up to 7 deep lobes. It is deciduous - shedding its leaves after the dry season. The spectacular flowering occurs in late spring and new foliage is ready for the summer rains. In areas where the winter is not particularly dry, this natural rhythm may become somewhat erratic and the tree may flower only partially.

Flowers are scarlet bells with 5 partially fused petals. The pod-like fruits (technically known as follicles) are dark brown, wide, boat-shapes and about 10 cm long. They contain masses of thin bristles that stick in the skin, as well as yellow seeds. These are nutritious and were eaten by Aborigines after toasting.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,

and also part of the Floral Friday Fotos meme.

CITY AT NIGHT

This post is part of the Wednesday Waters meme,

and also part of the Outdoor Wednesday meme,

and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme,

and also part of the ABC Wednesday meme.

MELBOURNE CENTRAL

Melbourne Central is a large shopping centre, office, and public transport hub in the city of Melbourne, Australia. The complex includes the Melbourne Central Shopping Centre, which was refurbished in 2005 by architects Ashton Raggatt McDougall; the Melbourne Central railway station (a part of the City Loop underground railway and formerly called Museum); and the 211 m high office tower with its distinctive black colour and two communications masts.

The centre features a gross leasable area of 55,100 m2. It is owned by GPT Group. Contained underneath the shopping centre's massive glass cone sits the Coop's Shot Tower which was built on the site in 1888. After last being used in 1961, the tower was retained to become a focal-point of the centre, R.M. Williams and the Shot Tower Museum now take up the inside of it. The tower was also featured in the opening sequence of the 1997 Jackie Chan film "Mr. Nice Guy".

This post is part of the Our World Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Ruby Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Travel Tuesday meme,
and also part of the Wordless Wednesday meme.

AT THE GALLERY

The National Gallery of Victoria (NGV) is an art gallery and museum in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1861, it is the oldest and the largest public art gallery in Australia. Since December 2003, NGV has operated across two sites. The main gallery, known as NGV International, is located on St Kilda Road, in the heart of the Melbourne Arts Precinct of Southbank, with a branch gallery at Federation Square.

To see more of the works summarised below in the mosaic, see the relevant post in my other blog, or better still, why not go and visit the Gallery yourself?

This post is part of the Mosaic Monday meme,
and also part of the Monday Mellow Yellows meme,
and also part of the Macro Monday meme,
and also part of the Through my Lens meme,
and also part of the Seasons meme.

MORDIALLOC BEACH

Mordialloc is a suburb in Melbourne, Australia, 24 km south-east from Melbourne's central business district. Its Local Government Area is the City of Kingston. At the 2006 Census, Mordialloc had a population of 7524. The name is derived from the Aboriginal term "moordy yallock", which translates roughly to "muddy creek."

Mordialloc Post Office opened on 17th October 1863. Mordialloc Creek is arguably the most significant feature of the suburb. Mordialloc Creek has a rich history of traditional wooden boat building. The Creek is still home to Pompei's boat works. Many classic boats line the walls of the creek and may still be admired today. Cafés, hotels and refreshment kiosks may also be found around the creek at its mouth near the sea. The beach attracts many on hot, Summer days.

This post is part of the Scenic Weekends meme,
and also part of the Our Beautiful World meme,
and also part of the My Sunday Photo meme,
and also part of the Photo Sunday meme.

LORIKEET SILHOUETTE

A rainbow lorikeet greeting the sunrise at Yarra Bend Park.

This post is part of the Skywatch Friday meme,
and also part of the Saturday Silhouettes meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

GINGER TOM

A neighbour's cat climbing trees...

This post is part of the Friday Greens meme,
and also part of the Saturday Critters meme,
and also part of the Camera Critters meme.

MELBOURNE STREET TREES 178 - KOELREUTERIA

Koelreuteria paniculata is a species of flowering plant in the family Sapindaceae, native to eastern Asia, in China and Korea. Common names include golden rain tree, pride of India, China tree, or varnish tree.

It is a small to medium-sized deciduous tree growing to 7 m tall, with a broad, dome-shaped crown. The leaves are pinnate, 15–40 cm long, rarely to 50 cm, with 7-15 leaflets 3–8 cm long, with a deeply serrated margin; the larger leaflets at the midpoint of the leaf are sometimes themselves pinnate but the leaves are not consistently fully bipinnate as in the related Koelreuteria bipinnata.

The flowers are yellow, with four petals, growing in large terminal panicles 20–40 cm long. The fruit is a three-parted inflated bladder-like pod 3–6 cm long and 2–4 cm broad, green ripening orange to pink in autumn, containing several dark brown to black seeds 5–8 mm diameter. There are two varieties: K. paniculata var. paniculata. Northern China and Korea. Leaves single-pinnate. K. paniculata var. apiculata (Rehder & E.H.Wilson) Rehder (syn. K. apiculata). Western China (Sichuan), intergrading with var. paniculata in central China. Leaves with larger leaflets commonly bipinnate.

It is popularly grown as an ornamental tree in temperate regions all across the world because of the aesthetic appeal of its flowers, leaves and seed pods. Several cultivars have been selected for garden planting, including 'Fastigiata' with a narrow crown, and 'September Gold', flowering in late summer. The seeds are edible when roasted, but not commonly consumed. In some areas, notably the eastern United States and particularly in Florida, it is considered an invasive species. These trees are growing in the All Nations Park in Northcote.

This post is part of the Floral Friday meme,
and also part of the Skywatch Friday meme.